Verner Expedition Atlas
The Verner Expedition Atlas more commonly known as The Shipwrecked Atlas is a sunken Atlas used by the Verner Expedition. They were on a mission when they shipwrecked on an undiscovered island. They built a fort there and settled in, unclear of what would happen to them. They eventually became a prosperous people and annexed the Verdantine Sovereignty. They claimed Verdantium as their own and renamed it Nova Balreska after their old homeland. They also formed the new faction Nova Balreska. Fort Verner was eventually occupied by viking which pressured for their independence. Today they are called 'Hallengard' and Fort Verner is now known as Isle hallengard. The Verner expedition's Atlas can still be seen shipwrecked outside Isle Hallengard. The picture to the right shows the Atlas shipwrecked. Inside the Atlas is a map showing the world outside the Central Isles. It shows places such as Inyola, Burkeland, Purshovia, Balresk, etc. Lore: Recount from York Stephens, a former citizen of Balresk who was one of the few survivors of the shipwreck in Hallengard. "I grew up on the outskirts of Balresk. My father was a blacksmith. The nails that he crafted were used to build the Republic's mighty fleet. I spent the days learning my father's trade, hopeful that one day I too could be part of something so great. I was 16 years old when the red sails appeared on the horizon. They came as traders. They brought exotic spices, fabrics, and metals my father had never seen before. Before we knew it, Balresk was one of the busiest trading hubs in the world. But the peace did not last long. The war between Inyola and the Purshovian Federation had been going on since I was a young boy. The Emperor called on Balresk's help. In no time I was on a ship, setting sail into the unknown. I was told that, with our help, the Inyolans planned to make one final push into the Purshovians' homeland. I was pleased to discover the nails holding together our ship bore my father's mark. Just over four weeks later we arrived at the Purshovian capital. The Inyolan fleet was nowhere to be found, but it mattered not. We took the Purshovians by surprise and burned Terranfort to the ground. We raided the town first, of course, taking anything of value. Loaded with riches and high off of the success of victory we set sail for home. Fate had other plans. A storm sank half of our fleet. Of those who survived, disease killed another thousand men. But that failed to prepare us for what was to come. No, what we saw as we approached our homeland made those hardships seem like petty discomforts. Flames covered the horizon. Smoke filled the sky, blocking out the sun. Balresk was on fire. Our home was gone and we weren't there to defend it. A fleeing ship confirmed our fears. An unknown enemy attacked under the cover of night. The city's defenses fell in a matter of minutes. Balresk had fallen. With no where to go, we sailed west to the small fishing village of Charlestown. Not many men had survived the voyage back from Purshovia. We divided our spoils equally among the men and settled down. I became a blacksmith and married a local woman: now the mother of my two children. Things were fairly normal until for the next several years. I was working late one night in my shop when two armed men approached me. They would not say who they were but told me that if I did not cooperate I would never see my family again. They put me on a ship and we sailed for about three days. They dropped anchor and transferred me to a nearby ship. There I encountered a few dozen men, equally confused and equally scared. No one knew why we were there. Many of the men were former slaves to the Inyolan Empire. A few of them were refugees with a similar story to mine. The one thing we all had in common was that our homelands had been mysteriously burnt to the ground overnight. Mutiny was always on our mind, but deep down we truly believed that this voyage would provide us some answers. Besides, the captain seemed to be the only one who knew where we were. He was clearly from the north, so we trusted him. Three weeks later a storm left us marooned on an island. The captain said we needed to fortify the island, so we did. We named our new settlement Fort Verner in honor of a man who got washed overboard during the storm. Several months passed until sails were spotted on the horizon. The travelers identified themselves as explorers from a small nation called Verdantium. They made us uneasy at first, as the Verdantians shared many of the facial characteristics of the Purshovians we had fought over a decade before. It was not long before we made contact with other people. Sailors hailing from Burkeland, Whitecrest, and even Inyola began arriving on our shores. We traded what we could spare in exchange for other materials that we needed. Nearly a year after arriving on this island, the men still have no clue why we're here and why we've not sailed back home. We hope that the coming months will provide answers to these questions. I can't wait for this mission to be over, however, as I hope to see my family soon. -York Stephens, Fort Verner Quartermaster" Category:Ships Category:Individual Ships Category:Places